Life and death, and other legends and stories

LIFE AND DEAT1

AND OTHER STORIES AND LEGENDS

UC-NRLF

HENRYK SIENK1"

LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

Class

Life and Death

And Other Legends and Stories

THE WORKS OF

HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ

Translated from the Original Polish by
Jeremiah Curtin.

The Zagloba Romances
With Fire and Sword, i vol.
The Deluge. 2 vols.
Pan Michael, i vol.

Quo Vadis. 1 vol.
The Knights of the Cross. 2 vols.
Children of the Soil, i vol.
Hania, and Other Stories, i vol.

SlELANKA, AND OTHER StORIES. I Vol.

In Vain, i vol.

Life and Death and Other Legends and
Stories, i vol.

Without Dogma. (Translated by Iza Young.)
I vol.

S m

o

Life and Death

And Other Legends and Stories

By

Henryk Sienkiewicz

Author of " With Fire and Sword," " The Deluge,"

" Pan Michael," " Quo Vadis," " Knights

of the Cross," etc.

Translated from the Original Polish by
Jeremiah Curtin

Boston
Little, Brown, and Company

1904

ESERVATION
ipY ADDED
HGINALTOBE
TAWED

UN, 2 3 1994

::sral

Copyright, 1897, 1S99, 1900, 1904,
By Jeremiah Curtin.

All rights reserved

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.

$4 Aar

PREFACE

"Is He the Dearest One?" was pro-
due ed under the following circumstances:
About fourteen years ago there was a
famine, or at least hunger, in Silesia.
Though that land is a German possession
at present, it was once a part of the
Polish Commonwealth, and there are
many un-Germanized Poles in it yet.

The mother in this sketch is Poland.
Tasko, the most unfortunate of her sons,
is Silesia. Poor, illfated, he neglects
his own language, forgets his mother ;
but she does not forget him, as was
shown on the occasion of that hunger in

■4 0> r*S /"»

689

PRE FA CE

Silesia. The Poles of Russian Poland
collected one million marks and sent them
to Tasko.

The ship "Purple" represents Poland
and its career, and is a very brief sum-
mary of the essence and meaning of
Polish history. Like some of the author s
most beautiful short productions, it was
written for a benevolent object, all the
money obtained for it being devoted to
that object.

All persons who have read "Charcoal
Sketches" in Sienkiewicz s "Hania,"
will be interested to learn the origin of
that striking production. It was written
mainly and finished in Los Angeles, CaL,
as Sienkiewicz told me in Switzerland
six years ago, but it was begun at
Anaheim Landing, as is described in the

PREFACE

sketch printed in this volume, " 'The
Cranes ** Besides being begun at Ana-
heim Landing, the whole plan of" Char-
coal Sketches" was worked out there.
"The Cranes" appeared in Lvov, or
Lemburg, a few years ago, in a paper
which was published for one day only,
and was made up of contributions from
Polish authors who gave these contri-
butions for a benevolent purpose. The
Hindu legend, "Life and Death" to be
read by Sienkiewicz at Warsaw in
January, is his latest work.

JEREMIAH CURTIN.

Torbole, Lago di Gar 'da , Austria,
December 18, 190J.

Vll

CONTENTS

Page

Life and Death : A Hindu Legend 3

Is He the Dearest One? .... 21

A Legend of the Sea 29

The Cranes 41

The Judgment of Peter and Paul

on Olympus 55

LIFE AND DEATH

A HINDU LEGEND

LIFE AND DEATH

A HINDU LEGEND

I

LIFE AND DEATH

THERE were two regions
lying side by side, as it
were two immense plains,
with a clear river flowing between
them.

At one point the banks of this
river sloped gently to a shallow ford
in the shape of a pond with trans-
parent, calm water.

Beneath the azure surface of this
ford could be seen its golden bed,
from which grew stems of lotus ; on
those stems bloomed white and rose-

3

LIFE ANJD DEATH

colored flowers above the mirror of
water. Rainbow-hued insects and
butterflies circled around the flowers
and among the palms of the shore,
while higher up in the sunny air
birds gave out sounds like those of
silver bells. This pond was the pas-
sage from one region to the other.

The first region was called the
Plain of Life, the second the Plain
of Death.

The supreme and all mighty-
Brahma had created both plains, and
had commanded the good Vishnu to
rule in the Region of Life, while
the wise Siva was lord in the Region
of Death.

" Do what ye understand to be
best," said Brahma to the two rulers.
4

LIFE AND DEATH

Hence in the region belonging to
Vishnu life moved with all its ac-
tivity. The sun rose and set ; day
followed night, and night followed
day ; the sea rose and fell ; in the
sky appeared clouds big with rain ;
the earth was soon covered with
forests, and crowded with beasts,
birds, and people.

So that all living creatures might
increase greatly and multiply, the
kindly god created Love, which he
made to be Happiness also.

After this Brahma summoned
Vishnu and said to him :

" Thou canst produce nothing bet-
ter on earth, and since heaven is
created already by me, do thou rest
and let those whom thou callest
5

LIFE AND DEATH

people weave the thread of life for
themselves unassisted."

Vishnu obeyed this command, and
henceforward men ordered their own
lives. From their good thoughts
came joy, from their evil ones, sorrow ;
and they saw soon with wonder that
life was not an unbroken rejoicing,
but that with the life thread which
Brahma had mentioned they wove out
two webs as it were with two faces,
— on one of these was a smile ; there
were tears in the eyes of the other.

They went then to the throne of
Vishnu and made complaint to him :

" O Lord ! life is grievous through
sorrow/'

" Let Love give you happiness,"

said Vishnu in answer.
6

LIFE AND DEATH

At these words they went away
quieted, for Love indeed scattered
their sorrows, which, in view of the
happiness given, seemed so insignifi-
cant as to be undeserving of notice.

But Love is also the mighty mother
of life, hence, though the region
which Vishnu ruled was enormous,
it was soon insufficient for the myriads
of people ; soon there was not fruit
enough upon trees there, nor berries
enough upon bushes, nor honey
enough from cliff bees.

Thereupon all the men who were
wisest fell to cutting down forests for
the clearing of land, for the sowing
of seed, for the winning of harvests.

Thus Labor appeared among peo-
ple. Soon all had to turn to it, and
7

LIFE AND DEATH

labor became not merely the basis of
life, but life itself very nearly.

But from Labor came Toil, and
Toil produced Weariness.

Great throngs of people appeared
before Vishnu a second time.

" O Lord ! " exclaimed they,
stretching their hands to him, " toil
has weakened our bodies, weariness
spreads through our bones, we are
yearning for rest, but Life drives us
always to labor."

To this Vishnu answered :

" The great and all mighty Brahma
has not allowed me to shape Life
any further, but I am free to make
that which will cause it to halt, and
rest will come then to you."

And Vishnu made Sleep.

LIFE AND DEATH

Men received this new gift with
rejoicing, and very soon saw in it
one of the greatest boons given by
the deity thus far. In sleep van-
ished care and vexation, during sleep
strength returned to the weary ; sleep,
like a cherishing mother, wiped
away tears of sorrow and surrounded
the heads of the slumbering with
oblivion.

So people glorified sleep, and
repeated :

" Be blessed, for thou art far better
than life in our waking hours."

And they had one regret only,
that it did not continue forever.
After sleep came awakening, and after
awakening came labor with fresh
toil and weariness.
9

LIFE AND DEATH

This thought began soon to
torture all men so sorely, that for
the third time they stood before
Vishnu.

" O Lord," said they, " thou hast
given us a boon which, though great
and unspeakably precious, is incom-
plete as it now appears. Wilt thou
grant us that sleep be eternal ? "

Vishnu wrinkled his brows then
in anger at this their insistence, and
answered :

" I cannot give what ye ask of me,
but go to the neighboring ford, and
beyond ye will find that for which
ye are seeking/'

The people heard the god's voice
and went on in legions immediately.
They went to the ford, and, halt-

IO

LIFE AND DEATH

ing there, gazed at the shore lying
opposite.

Beyond the clear, calm, and flower-
bedecked surface stretched the Plain
of Death, or the Kingdom of
Siva.

The sun never rose and never set
in that region; there was no day and
no night there, but the whole plain
was of a lily-colored, absolute clear-
ness. No shadow fell in that region,
for clearness inhered there so thor-
oughly that it seemed the real essence
of Siva's dominions.

The region was not empty. As
far as the eye could reach were seen
heights and valleys where beautiful
trees stood in groups ; on those trees
rose climbing plants, while ivy and

LIFE AND DEATH

grapevines were hanging from the
cliff sides.

But the cliffs and the tree trunks
and the slender plant stems were
almost transparent, as if formed out
of light grown material. The leaves
of the ivy had in them a delicate
roseate light as of dawn. And all
was in marvellous rest, such as none
on the Plain of Life had experienced ;
all was as if sunk in serene medita-
tion, as if dreaming and resting in
continuous slumber, unthreatened by
waking.

In the clear air not the slightest
breeze was discovered, not a flower
was seen moving, not a leaf showed
a quiver.

The people who had come to the

12

LIFE AND DEATH

shore with loud conversation and
clamor grew silent at sight of those
lily-colored, motionless spaces, and
whispered :

" What quiet ! How everything
rests there in clearness ! "

"Oh, yes, there is rest and un-
broken repose in that region. "

So some, namely, those who were
weariest, said after a silence :

" Let us find the sleep which is
surely unbroken."

And they entered the water.
The rainbow-hued surface opened
straightway before them, as if wish-
ing to lighten the passage. Those
who remained on the shore began
now to call after them, but no
man turned his head, and all hur-
13

LIFE AND DEA TH

ried forward with willingness and
lightly, attracted more and more by
the charm of that wonderful region.

The throng which gazed from the
shore of Life at them noted this also :
that as they moved forward their
bodies grew gradually less heavy, be-
coming transparent and purer, more
radiant, and as it were blending with
that absolute clearness which filled
the whole Plain of Death, Siva's
kingdom.

And when they had passed and
disposed themselves amid flowers and
at trees or the bases of cliffs, to re-
pose there, their eyes were closed,
but their faces had on them not
only an expression of ineffable peace,
but also of happiness such as Love
H

LIFE AND DEATH

itself on the Plain of Life had never
given.

Seeing this, those who had halted
behind said one to another :

" The region belonging to Siva is
sweeter and better/'

And they began to pass to that
shore in increasing numbers. There
went in solemn procession old men,
and men in ripe years, and hus-
bands and wives, and mothers who
led little children, and maidens, and
youths, and then thousands and mil-
lions of people pushed on toward that
Calm Passage, till at last the Plain of
Life was depopulated almost entirely.

Then Vishnu, whose task it was to
keep life from extinction, was fright-
ened because of the advice which he

LIFE AND DEATH

had given in his anger, and not
knowing what to do else hastened
quickly to Brahma.

" Save Life, O Creator ! " said he.
" Behold, thou hast made the inher-
itance of Death now so beautiful, so
serene, and so blissful that all men
are leaving my kingdom."

" Have none remained with thee
there ? " inquired Brahma.

" Only one youth and one maiden,
who are in love beyond measure ;
they renounce endless bliss rather
than close their eyes and gaze on
each other no longer."

"What dost thou wish, then ?"

" Make the region of Death less

delightful, less happy ; if not, even

those two when their springtime of
16

LIFE AND DEATH

love shall be ended will leave me
and follow the others."

Brahma thought for a moment
and answered :

" No ! Oh no ! I will not decrease
beauty and happiness in the region
of Death, but I will do something
for Life in its own realm. Hence-
forward people will not pass to the
other shore willingly, they must be
forced to it."

When he had said this he made a
thick veil out of darkness which no
one could see through, and next he
created two terrible beings, one of
these he named Fear and the other
one Pain. He commanded them
then to hang that black veil at the
Passage.

2 17

LIFE AND DEATH

Thereafter Vishnu's kingdom was
as crowded with life as it had been,
for though the region of Death was
as calm, as serene, and as blissful as
ever, people dreaded the Passage.

18

SMALL CHAPEL ON THE SIENKIEWICZ ESTATE

IS HE THE DEAREST ONE?

II

IS HE THE DEAREST ONE?

IN the distance a dark strip of
pine wood was visible. In
front of the wood was a
meadow, and amid fields of grain
stood a cottage covered with a straw
roof and with moss. Birch trees hung
their tresses above it. On a fir tree
stood a stork on its nest, and in a
cherry garden were dark beehives.

Through an open gate a wanderer
walked into the yard and said to the
mistress of the cottage, who was
standing on its threshold :

21

IS HE THE DEAREST ONE?

" Peace to this quiet house, to
those trees, to the grain, to the whole
place, and to thee, mother ! "

The woman greeted him kindly,
and added :

" I will bring bread and milk to
thee, wayfarer; but sit down the
while and rest, for it is clear that
thou art coming back from a long
journey."

" I have wandered like that stork,
and like a swallow ; I come from afar,
I bring news from thy children/'

Her whole soul rushed to the eyes
of that mother, and she asked the
wayfarer straightway :

" Dost thou know of my Yasko ? "

" Dost thou love that son most
that thou askest first about him ?

IS HE THE JDEAREST ONE?

Well, one son of thine is in forests,
he works with his axe, he spreads his
net in lakes ; another herds horses in
the steppe, he sings plaintive songs
and looks at the stars ; the third son
climbs mountains, passes over naked
rocks and high pastures, spends the
night with sheep and shouts at the
eagles. All bend down before thy
knees and send thee greeting."

" But Yasko ? " asked the mother
with an anxious face.

" I keep sad news for the last.
Life is going ill with Yasko : the
field does not give its fruit to him,
poverty and hunger torment the man,
his days and months pass in suffering.
Amid strangers and misery he has
even forgotten thy language; forget
23

IS HE THE DEAREST ONE?

him, since he has no thought for
thee."

When he had finished, the woman
took the man's hand, led him to her
pantry in the cottage, and, seizing a
loaf from the shelf, she said :

" Give this bread, O wayfarer, to
Yasko ! "

Then she untied a small kerchief,
took a bright silver coin from it, and
with trembling voice added :

" I am not rich, but this too is for
Yasko."

" Woman ! " said the wayfarer

now with astonishment, " thou hast

many sons, but thou sendest gifts to

only one of them. Dost thou love

him more than the others ? Is he

the dearest one ? "
24

IS HE THE DEAREST ONE!

She raised her great sad eyes, filled
with tears, and answered :

" My blessing is for them all, but
my gifts are to Yasko, for I am a
mother, and he is my poorest son."

25

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

Ill

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

THERE was a ship named
"The Purple/' so strong
and so great that she feared
neither winds nor waves, even when
they were raging most terribly.

" The Purple " swept on, with
every sail set, she rose upon each
swelling wave and crushed with her
conquering prow hidden rocks on
which other ships foundered. She
moved ever forward with sails which
were gleaming in sunlight, and moved

with such swiftness that foam roared
29

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

at her sides and stretched out behind
in a broad, endless road-streak.

"That is a glorious craft," cried
out crews on all other ships ; " a
man might think that she sails just
to punish the ocean."

From time to time they called out
to the crew of " The Purple " :

" Hei, men, to what port are ye
sailing ? "

"To that port to which wind
blows," said the men on "The
Purple."

" Have a care, there are rocks
ahead ! There are whirlpools ! "

In reply to this warning came back
a song as loud as the wind was :

" Let us sail on, let us sail ever
joyously."

3°

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

Men on " The Purple " were glad-
some. The crew, confiding in the
strength of their ship and the size
of it, jeered at all perils. On other
ships stern discipline ruled, but on
"The Purple" each man did what
seemed good to him.

Life on that ship was one ceaseless
holiday. The storms which she had
passed, the rocks which she had
crushed, increased the crew's confi-
dence. " There are no reefs, there
are no winds to wreck this ship,"
roared the sailors. " Let a hurricane
shiver the ocean, • The Purple ' will
always sail forward."

And " The Purple" sailed ; she was
proud, she was splendid.

Whole years passed — she was to
31

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

all seeming invincible, she helped
other ships and took in on her deck
drowning passengers.

Blind faith increased every day
in the breasts of the crew on " The
Purple." They grew slothful in good
fortune and forgot their own art,
they forgot how to navigate. " Our
1 Purple ' will sail herself/' said they.
"Why toil, why watch the ship, why
pull at rudder, masts, sails, and ropes?
Why live by hard work and the sweat
of our brows, when our ship is divine,
indestructible? Let us sail on, let us
sail joyously/ '

And they sailed for a very long
period. At last, after years, the crew
became utterly effeminate, they for-
got every duty, and no man of them
32

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

knew that that ship was decaying.
Bitter water had weakened the spars,
the strong rigging had loosened, waves
without number had shattered the
gunwales, dry rot was at work in the
mainmast, the sails had grown weak
through exposure.

The voice of sound sense was heard
now despite every madness :

" Be careful ! " cried some of the
sailors.

" Never mind ! We will sail with
the current," cried out the major-
ity. But once such a storm came
that to that hour its like had not
been on the water. The wind whirled
ocean and clouds into one hellish
chaos. Pillars of water rose up
and flew then with roars at "The
3 33

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

Purple " ; they were raging and bel-
lowing dreadfully. They fell on
the ship, they drove her down to the
bottom, they hurled her up to the
clouds, then cast her down again.
The weak rigging snapped, and now
a quick cry of despair was heard on
the deck of that vessel.

" ' The Purple ' is sinking ! "

"The Purple" was really sinking,
while the crew, unaccustomed to
work and to navigate, knew not how
to save her.

But when the first moment of terror
had passed, rage boiled up in their
hearts, for those mariners still loved
that ship of theirs.

All sprang up speedily, some rushed
to fire cannon-balls at the winds and
34

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

foaming water, others seized what
each man could find near him and
flogged that sea which was drowning
"The Purple."

Great was that fight of despair
against the elements. But the waves
had more strength than the mariners.
The guns filled with water and then
they were silent. Gigantic whirls
seized struggling sailors and swept
them out into watery chaos.

The crew decreased every minute,
but they struggled on yet. Covered
with water, half-blinded, concealed
by a mountain of foam, they fought
till they dropped in the battle.

Strength left them, but after
brief rest they sprang again to the
struggle.

35

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

At last their hands fell. They
felt that death was approaching. Dull
despair seized them. Those sailors
looked at one another as if demented.

Now those same voices which had
warned previously of danger were
raised again, and more powerfully,
so powerfully this time that the
roar of the waves could not drown
them.

Those voices said :

"O blind men! How can ye
cannonade wind, or flog waves ?
Mend your vessel ! Go to the hold.
Work there. The ship ' Purple * is
afloat yet."

At these words those mariners,
half-dead already, recovered, all rushed
to the hold and began then to work
36

A LEGEND OF THE SEA

in it. And they worked from morn-
ing till night in the sweat of their
brows and with effort, seeking thus
to retrieve their past sloth and their
blindness.

37

THE CRANES

IV
THE CRANES

HOMESICKNESS (nostal-
gia) tortures mainly people
who for various reasons
are utterly unable to return to their
own country, but even those for
whom return is merely a question of
will power feel its attacks sometimes.
The cause may be anything : a sun-
rise or a sunset which calls to mind
a dawn or an evening at home, some
note of a foreign song in which the
rhythm of one's own country is
heard ; some group of trees which
41

THE CRANES

call to mind remotely the native
village — anything suffices !

At such moments an immense,
irresistible sadness seizes hold on the
heart, and immediately a feeling
comes to a man that he is, as it were,
a leaf torn away from a distant but
beloved tree. And in such moments
the man is forced to return, or, if
he has imagination, he is driven to
create.

Once — a good many years back
— I was sojourning on the shore of
the Pacific Ocean in a place called
Anaheim Landing. My society was
made up of some sailor fishermen,
Norwegians for the greater part, and
a German, who gave food to those
fishermen and lodged them. Their
42

THE CRANES

days were passed on the water ; every
evening they amused themselves with
poker, a game at cards which years
ago was common in all the dram-
shops of America, long before
fashionable ladies in Europe began
to play it. I was quite alone, and
my time passed in wandering with a
gun over the open plain or along the
shore of the Pacific. I visited the
sandbanks which a small river made
as with a broad mouth it entered the
ocean ; I waded in the shallow waters
of this river, noted its unknown
fishes, its shells, and looked at the
great sea-lions which sunned them-
selves on a number of rocks at the
river mouth. Opposite was a small
sandy island swarming with mews,
43

THE CRANES

pelicans, and albatrosses ; a real and
populous bird commonwealth, filled
with cries and uproar.

At times, when the day was calm,
and when amid silence the surface
of the water took on a tinge almost
violet, changing into gold, I sat in
a boat and rowed toward the little
island, on which pelicans, unused to
the sight of man, looked at me less
with fear than astonishment, as if
wishing to ask, " What sort of seal
is this that we have not seen till to-
day ? " Frequently I looked from
that bank at sunsets which were
simply marvellous ; they changed the
whole horizon into one sea, gleam-
ing with gold, fire, and opal, which,
passing into a brilliant purple, faded
44

THE CRANES

gradually until the moon shone on
the amethyst background of the
heavens, and the wonderful semi-
tropical night had embraced the earth
and the sky. The empty land, the
endlessness of the ocean, and the
excess of light disposed me some-
what toward mysticism. I became
pantheistic, and had the feeling that
everything surrounding me formed
a certain single great soul which ap-
pears as the ocean, the sky, the plain,
or diminishes into such small living
existences as birds, fish, shells, or
broom on the ocean shore. At times
I thought also that those sand-hills
and empty banks might be inhabited
by invisible beings like the ancient
Greek fauns, nymphs, or naiads. A
45

THE CRANES

man does not believe in such things
when he turns to his own reason ; but
involuntarily he admits that they are
possible when he lives only with Na-
ture and in perfect seclusion. Life
changes then, as it were, into a drow-
siness in which visions are more
powerful than thought. As for me,
I was conscious only of that bound-
less calm which surrounded me, and
I felt that it was pleasant to be in it.
At times I thought of future " letters
about my journey"; at times, too,
I, as a young man, thought also of
" her/' the unknown whom I should
meet and love some time. In that
relaxation of thought, and on that
empty, clear ocean shore, amid those

uncompleted ideas, undescribed de-
46

THE CRANES

sires, in that half dream, in semi-
consciousness, I was happier than ever
in life before. But on a certain
evening I sat long on the little island
and returned to the shore after night-
fall. The flowing tide brought me
in — I scarcely had need to lift an
oar then. In other regions the flow
of the tide is tempestuous, but in that
land of eternal good weather waves
touch the sand shore with gentleness ;
the ocean does not strike land with
an outburst. Such silence surrounded
me that a quarter of a mile from the
shore line I could have heard the con-
versation of men. But that shore was
unoccupied. I heard only the squeak
of the oars on my boat and the low
plash of water moved by them.

47

THE CRANES

Just then, from above, certain
piercing cries reached me. I raised
my head, but on the dark background
of the sky I could discern nothing.
When the cries were heard a second
time, directly above, I recognized in
them the voices of cranes.

Evidently a whole flock of cranes
was flying somewhere above my head
toward the island of Santa Catalina.
But I remembered that I had heard
cries like those more than once, when
as a boy I journeyed from school for
vacation — and straightway a mighty
homesickness seized hold of me. I
returned to the little room which I
had hired in the cabin of the German,
but could not sleep. Pictures of my

country passed then before my mind :

48

OF THE HOUSE FROM THE POND ON
SIENKIEWICZ ESTATE

THE

THE CRANES

now a pine forest, now broad fields
with pear trees on the boundaries,
now pleasant cottages, now village
churches, now white mansions sur-
rounded by dense orchards. I yearned
for such scenes all that night.

I went out next morning, as usual,
to the sand-banks. I felt that the
ocean and the sky, and the sand
mounds on the shore, and the plains,
and the cliffs on which seals were
basking in the sunlight, were things
to me absolutely foreign, things with
which I had nothing in common, as
they had nothing in common with
me.

Only yesterday I had wandered
about in that neighborhood and had
judged that my pulse was beating in
4 49

THE CRANES

answer to the pulse of that immense
universe ; to-day I put to myself this
question : What have I to do here ;
why do I not go back to my birth-
place ? The feeling of harmony and
sweetness in life had vanished, leav-
ing nothing behind it. Time, which
before had seemed so quiet and sooth-
ing, which was measured by the ebb
and flow of the ocean, now seemed
unendurably tedious. I began to
think of my own land, of that which
had remained in it, and that which
had changed with time's passage.

America and my journey ceased
altogether to interest me, and imme-
diately there swarmed in my head
a throng of visions ever denser and
denser, composed wholly of memories.
50

THE CRANES

I could not tear myself free from
them, though they brought no de-
light to me. On the contrary, there
was in those memories much sadness,
and even suffering, which rose from
comparing our sleepy and helpless
country life with the bustling activity
of America. But the more our life
seemed to me helpless and sleepy, the
more it mastered my soul, the dearer
it grew to me, and the more I longed
for it. During succeeding days the
visions grew still more definite, and at
last imagination began to develop, to
arrange, to bring clearness and order
into one artistic plan. I began to
create my own world.

A week later, on a certain night
when the Norwegians went out on
51

THE CRANES

the ocean, I sat down in my little
room and from under my pen flowed
the following words : " In Barania
Glova, in the chancellery of the vil-
lage mayor, it was as calm as in time
of sowing poppy seed."

And thus, because cranes flew over
the shore of the Pacific, I composed
" Charcoal Sketches."

52

THE JUDGMENT OF PETER
AND PAUL ON OLYMPUS

THE JUDGMENT OF PETER
AND PAUL ON OLYMPUS

A POEM IN PROSE

IT was a night of spring, calm,
silvery, and fragrant with dewy
jasmine. The full moon was
sailing above Olympus, and on the
glittering, snowy summit of the
mountain it shone with a clear, pen-
sive, greenish light. Farther down
in the Vale of Tempe was a dark
thicket of thorn-bushes, shaken by
the songs of nightingales — by en-
treaties, by complaints, by calls, by
55

THE JUDGMENT OF

allurements, by languor, by sighs.
These sounds flowed like the music
of flutes, filling the night ; they fell
like a pouring rain, and rushed on
like rivers. At moments they ceased ;
then such silence followed that one
might almost hear the snow thawing
on the heights under the warm breath
of May. It was an ambrosial night.
On that night came Peter and
Paul, and sat on the highest grass-
mound of the slope to pass judgment
on the gods of antiquity. The heads
of the Apostles were encircled by
halos, which illuminated their gray
hair, stern brows, and severe eyes.
Below, in the deep shade of beeches,
stood the assembly of gods, abandoned
and in dread, awaiting their sentence,
56

PETER AND PAUL

Peter motioned with his hand, and
at the sign Zeus stepped forth first
from the assembly and approached
the Apostles. The Cloud- Compeller
was still mighty, and as huge as if cut
out of marble by Phidias, but weak-
ened and gloomy. His old eagle
dragged along at his feet with broken
wing, and the blue thunderbolt,
grown reddish in places from rust,
and partly quenched, seemed to be
slipping from the stiffening right
hand of the former father of gods
and men. But when he stood before
the Apostles the feeling of ancient
supremacy filled his broad breast.
He raised his head haughtily, and
fixed on the face of the aged fisher-
man of Galilee his proud and glitter-
57

THE JUDGMENT OE

ing eyes, which were as angry and as
terrible as lightnings.

Olympus, accustomed to tremble
before its ruler, shook to its foun-
dations. The beeches quivered with
fear, the song of the nightingales
ceased, and the moon sailing above
the snows grew as white as the linen
web of Arachne. The eagle screamed
through his crooked beak for the
last time, and the lightning, as if
animated by its ancient force, flashed
and began to roar terribly at the feet
of its master; it reared, hissed, snapped,
and raised its three-cornered, flaming
forehead, like a serpent ready to stab
with poisonous fang. But Peter
pressed the fiery bolts with his foot
and crushed them to the earth. Turn-
58

PETER AND PAUL

ing then to the Cloud-Compeller, he
pronounced this sentence : " Thou
art cursed and condemned through
all eternity." At once Zeus was
extinguished. Growing pale in the
twinkle of an eye, he whispered,
with blackening lips, "'AvdyicT)"
("Necessity "), and vanished through
the earth.

Poseidon of the dark curls next
stood before the Apostles, with night
in his eyes, and in his hand the
blunted trident. To him then spoke
Peter :

" It is not thou who wilt rouse
the billows. It is not thou who wilt
lead the storm-tossed ships to a quiet
haven, but she who is called the
< Star of the Sea/ "
59

THE JUDGMENT OF

When Poseidon heard this he
screamed, as if pierced with sudden
pain, and turned into vanishing mist.

Next rose Apollo, the Silver-bowed,
with a hollow lute in his hand, and
walked toward the holy men. Be-
hind him moved slowly the nine
Muses, looking like nine white pillars.
Terror-stricken, they stood before the
judgment-seat, as if petrified, breath-
less, and without hope ; but the radi-
ant Apollo turned to Paul, and, in
a voice which resembled wondrous
music, said :

" Slay me not ! Protect me, lord ;

for shouldst thou slay me, thou

wouldst have to restore me to life

again. I am the blossom of the soul

of humanity ; I am its gladness ; I
60

PETER AND PAUL

am light; I am the yearning for
God. Thou knowest best that the
song of earth will not reach heaven
if thou break its wings. Hence I
implore thee, O saint, not to smite
down Song/'

A moment of silence came. Peter
raised his eyes toward the stars.
Paul placed his hands on his sword-
hilt, rested his forehead on them,
and for a time fell into deep thought.
At last he rose, made the sign of the
cross calmly above the radiant head
of the god, and said :

" Let Song live ! "

Apollo sat down with his lute at

the feet of the Apostle. The night

became clearer, the jasmine gave out

a stronger perfume, the glad foun-

61

THE JUDGMENT OF

tains sounded, the Muses gathered
together like a flock of white swans,
and, with voices still quivering from
fear, began to sing in low tones mar-
vellous words never heard on the
heights of Olympus till that hour :

To thy protection we flee, holy Mother

of God.
We come with our prayers ; deign thou

not to reject us,
But be pleased to preserve us from every

evil,
O thou, our Lady !

Thus they sang on the heather, rais-
ing their eyes like pious nuns with
heads covered with white.

Other gods came now. Bacchus
and his chorus dashed past, wild, un-
restrained, crowned with ivy and
62

PETER AND PAUL

grapevine, and bearing the cithara
and the thyrsus. They rushed on
madly, with shouts of despair, and
fell into the bottomless pit.

Then before the Apostles stood a
lofty, proud, sarcastic divinity, who,
without waiting for question or sen-
tence, spoke first. On her lips was
a smile of derision.

" 1 am Pallas Athene. I do not
beg life of you. I am an illusion,
nothing more. Odysseus honored
and obeyed me only when he had
become senile. Telemachus listened
to me only till hair covered his chin.
Ye cannot take immortality from
me, and I declare that I have been
a shadow, that I am a shadow now,
and shall remain a shadow forever."
63

THE JUDGMENT OF

At last her turn came to the most
beautiful, the most honored goddess.
As she approached, sweet, marvellous,
tearful, the heart under her snow-
white breast beat like the heart in a
bird, and her lips quivered like those
of a child that fears cruel punishment.
She felt at their feet, and, stretching
forth her divine arms, cried in fear
and humility :

" I am sinful, I deserve blame, but
I am Joy. Have mercy, forgive ; I
am the one happiness of mankind.''
Then sobbing and fear took away her
voice.

But Peter looked at the goddess

with compassion, and placed his aged

palm on her golden hair, while Paul,

bending toward a cluster of white
64

PETER AND PAUL

field-lilies, broke off one blossom, and
touching her with it, said :

" J°y> be henceforth like this
flower, and live thou for mankind."

Then came dawn — the divine
dawn that looked out from beyond
a depression between two peaks.
The nightingales stopped singing,
and immediately finches, linnets, and
wrens began to draw their sleepy
little heads from under their moist-
ened wings, shaking the dew from
their feathers, and repeating in low
voices, " Svit ! svit /■" (" Light !

light!").

The earth awoke, smiled, and was
delighted, because Song and Joy had
not been taken from it.

65

/^ or THe \

{university J

V^CALIFOjyiJ^

tHE ZAGLOBA ROMANCES

by Henry k Sienkiewicz. Translated from
the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin.

WITH FIRE AND SWORD

An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Illustrated.
Crown 8vo. $1.50.

The first of the famous trilogy of historical romances
of Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Their publication
has been received as an event in literature. Charles
Dudley Warner, in Harper' s Magazine, affirms that
the Polish author has in Zagloba given a new crea-
tion to literature,

A capital story. The only modern romance with which it can
be compared for fire, sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes,
and absorbing interest is "The Three Musketeers' ' of Dumas. —
New York Tribune.

THE DELUGE

An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia.
A Sequel to " With Fire and Sword.' ' With map.
2 vols. Crown 8vo. $3.00.

Marvellous in its grand descriptions. — Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Has the humor of a Cervantes and the grim vigor of Defoe. —
Boston Gazette.

PAN MICHAEL
An Historical Novel of Poland, Russia, and the
Ukraine. A Sequel to "With Fire and Sword"
and "The Deluge." Crown 8vo. $1.50.

The interest of the trilogy, both historical and romantic, is
splendidly sustained. — The Dial, Chicago.

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts

gUO VADIS

A Narrative of the Time of Nero. By Henryk
Sienkiewicz. Translated from the Polish by Jere-
miah Curtin. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50.

One of the greatest books of our day. — The Bookman.

The book is like a grand historical pageant. — Literary World.

Of intense interest to the whole Christian civilization. — Chicago
Tribune.

Interest never wanes ; and the story is carried through its many
phases of conflict and terror to a climax that enthralls. — Chicago
Record.

As a study of the introduction of the gospel of love into the
pagan world typified by Rome, it is marvellously fine. — Chicago
Interior.

The picture here given of life in Rome under the last of the
Caesars is one of unparalleled power and vividness. — Boston Home
Journal.

One of the most remarkable books of the decade. It burns
upon the brain the struggles and triumphs of the early church. —
Boston Daily Advertiser.

It will become recognized by virtue of its own merits as the one
heroic monument built by the modern novelist above the ruins of
decadent Rome, and in honor of the blessed martyrs of the early
Church. — Brooklyn Eagle.

Our debt to Sienkiewicz is not less than our debt to his trans-
lator and friend, Jeremiah Curtin. The diversity of the language,
the rapid flow of thought, the picturesque imagery of the descrip-
tions are all his. — Boston Transcript.

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts

THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS

An Historical Romance of Poland and Germany.
By Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from the
Polish by Jeremiah Curtin. Illustrated. 2 vols.
Crown 8vo. $ 2. 00.

The greatest work Sienkiewicz has given us. — Buffalo Express.

It seems superior even to "Quo Vadis" in strength and
realism. — The Churchman.

The construction of the story is beyond praise. It is difficult to
conceive of any one who will not pick the book up with eagerness.
— Chicago Evening Post.

There are some scenes in the book that for power and excite-
ment remind one of the great encounter between Ursus and the bull
in " Quo Vadis." — Minneapolis Tribune.

Vivid, dramatic, and vigorous. . . . His imaginative power,
his command of language, and the picturesque scenes he sets com-
bine to fascinate the reader. — Philadelphia Bulletin.

A book that holds your almost breathless attention as in a vise
from the very beginning, for in it love and strife, the most thrilling
of all worldly subjects, are described masterfully. — The Boston
Journal.

Another remarkable book. His descriptions are tremendously
effective ; one can almost hear the sound of the carnage ; to the
mind's eye the scene of battle is unfolded by a master artist. — The
Hartford Courant.

Thrillingly dramatic, full of strange local color and very faith-
ful to its period, besides having that sense of the mysterious and
weird that throbs in the Polish blood and infects alike their music
and literature. — The St. Paul Globe.

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts

OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES
by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin.

CHILDREN OF THE SOIL

Crown 8vo. $1.50.

It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and
shows its author to be almost as great a master in the field of the
domestic novel as he had previously been shown to be in that of
imaginative historical romances. — The Dial, Chicago.

HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES

With portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.50.

At the highest level of the author's genius. — The Outlook.

SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE

And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo.
JI.50.

They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better
than his longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings
and beautiful descriptions. — Chicago Inter-Ocean.

LIFE AND DEATH AND OTHER
LEGENDS AND STORIES

Illustrated. i6mo. Decorated cloth, $1.00.

WITHOUT DOGMA

A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the
Polish by Iza Young.) Crown 8vo. $1.50.

A human document read in the light of a great imagination. —
Boston Beacon.

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts

OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES

by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from
the Polish by Jeremiah Curtin.

CHILDREN OF THE SOIL

Crown 8vo. $1.50.

It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and
shows its author to be almost as great a master in the field of the
domestic novel as he had previously been shown to be in that of
imaginative historical romances. — The Dial, Chicago.

HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES

With portrait. Crown 8vo. J 1.50.

At the highest level of the author's genius. — The Outlook.

SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE

And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo.
J1..50.

They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better
than his longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings
and beautiful descriptions. — Chicago Inter-Ocean.

LIFE AND DEATH AND OTHER
LEGENDS AND STORIES

Illustrated. i6mo. Decorated cloth, $1.00.

WITHOUT DOGMA

A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the
Polish by Iza Young.) Crown 8vo. $1.50.

A human document read in the light of a great imagination. —
Boston Beacon.

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, Publishers
Boston, Massachusetts

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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flAY 19 1919

JUL 17 1919
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MAY 121931

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